Sign Up for Swamplot Emails:

West Gray Gallery Home a Montrose Mixed-Use Mashup

In 2009, the now-10-year-old Betz Art Gallery housed in a 1947 cottage-scale venue on West Gray gained a 3-story appendage to expand its exhibition space. Now the gallery towers over itself. Listed in January at $599,000, the property’s asking price dropped to $549,000 at the end of March. That’s around the time artist Lori Betz opened the Betz Art Foundry at the Summer Street Studios, up in the artsy warehouse district off Houston Ave. Although the Montrose-area gallery remains open, it’s moving later this year, a gallery staff member says.

A mashup of modern and vintage structures, the bi-level gallery-home is listed as ADA compliant and reported to be “very energy efficient.” Maybe it’s the dearth of windows. Glass panes that remain post-redo have light-diffusing panels.

***

Both the old and new parts of the building have hardwood floors and high-end finishes. The 5,000-sq.-ft. lot has a wheelchair ramp in its parking area. The property, next to a vacant lot, is located just west of Montrose Blvd. in Rosemont Heights.

As currently used, gallery space occupies the expanded first floor, with living areas on the 2nd and 3rd levels of the 1,800-sq.-ft tower. “Significantly remodeled” for gallery use, the building is listed as having 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths. The galley kitchen also serves as a utility room:

In the tower, there appears to be a single 30-ft.-by-20-ft. room per floor, with windows facing north and east. The top level contains the master bedroom: